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Wellness Center pushes opening date

CU Denver plans on adding 30 years

Thanks to CU Denver, plans for the Student Wellness Center began in 2015 with hopes of opening in 2018. Students will have to wait a bit longer for the state-of-the-art facility though, as the opening has been delayed until May 2040.

Photo: Mailys Steiblen • The Sentry

With high ambitions, the Student Wellness Center was supposed to be 85,000 square feet. Since this vast space is proving to be a struggle to finish on time, the design has been cut to less than half the original square footage. Despite this reduction, it will still take another 22 years to finish the project.

Given the circumstances, generations of construction workers will need to be paid, so the budget has risen significantly from the original $42 million. Consequently, student fees will also increase. Molly Anderson, a sophomore accounting major, said, “I’ve already been paying two years of fees for the Wellness Center. Now I’ll have to pay extra money until I graduate, and I won’t even get to use the study rooms or gym. At least I’m not a loser freshman who desperately needs to run on a treadmill,” she said. “I’m going to make my kids come here. That way I can live vicariously through them.” Initially, students paying for the Wellness Center while it’s not open were supposed to be granted free membership for a limited time after graduation, but that rule has been revoked as administration is concerned about hordes of alumni crowding campus.

As she felt the need to speak on the situation, Amber Long, the Director of the Student Wellness Center, said, “I understand the frustration of students, but an earlier completion date isn’t plausible. I assure you we’re working as hard as we can to finish the center by 2040.” This seemingly never-ending project will give future CU Denver students something to look forward to, and in turn, that will make alumni envious.